Cheryl Schatz

Craig,
You said:

In the example I gave @77, say the woman (let’s call her Betty) had actually led no one astray yet but was trying to with 20 different men, don’t you think Paul could still have expressed “I do not permit Betty to authentein a man”? I can agree that he could also have said “I do not permit Betty to authentein men”, but both sound possible to me.
If Paul still had this idea in his mind of deceived Betty endeavouring to enrich many men in their spiritual experience through sex with her, could he not also have expressed it as “But she will be saved… if they (meaning all the men she was trying to influence, or possibly her and the men)?

There is a problem with adding more people into “they” than what Paul meant. If by “they” Paul meant the deceived woman and her husband, then one person is vital to bringing her to salvation and his influence so important that it is mentioned by Paul. But what if the woman had been teaching 10 men? If we include all ten in the “they” then all ten are vital or she won’t come to salvation. What if 8 out of the 10 will work with her? Will she come to salvation? 8 out of the 10 is no longer the complete “they”. What happens if her teaching was broadcast to the entire world? Would the entire world have to participate so that “she” can be saved? Do you see the problem with making “they” a crowd or at least even one more than Paul intended?